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Why You Need To Stop Making Everything So Big

31 March 2016

Aren't we all very-often guilty of making all sorts of things too big? And isn’t that what’s getting in our way?

Let me share a brief story with you.

At a talk I was giving to a group of small business owners

a while back, I was commenting on the subject of goals.

And I had been saying that our goals needed to be

inspiring and visionary, challenging and stretching,

distinct and clear. All the usual stuff.

And although I hadn’t mean to, for at least one person in

the audience, I had implied that goals needed to be “big”.

She challenged me on exactly that: “Why do our goals

always have to be so big? Why do we always have to

shoot for #1 in our market? Why do we always have to

climb Mount Everest? We’re small business owners; we

need to budget for failure.”

Now, that last remark: “budget for failure”. Well, I don’t

even know what that means. Or rather: I know exactly

what it means – I’m just not going to let my thinking go

there. Because I know what focusing on failure will get

me.

But putting aside that final statement, she had (otherwise)

made for me a very valid point: goals do not need to be

big.

And I’ve always believed that. I’ve always preferred to

talk about goals in terms of challenge and stretch and

significance. That is: Does this goal represent stretch for

you? Does this goal have significance and meaning for

you?

And all that might result in a goal that is (quote-unquote)

“big”. But “big” is not mandatory criteria for a quality goal.

The Lesson: goals don’t need to be “big”. They just need

to be significant. For you.

When BIG gets in the way

To know that goals don’t need to be “big” is a useful

thought. But it doesn’t just stop at goals. That useful

thinking has application elsewhere too.

Think now about a project, task or undertaking that

you’re stuck on; that isn’t moving; that you’re not getting

to. Isn’t it, at least in part, because you’re making it too

big?

And aren’t we very-often guilty of making all sorts of

things too big? Projects, tasks and undertakings. Events,

meetings and presentations. Admin, housekeeping,

development. Everywhere we look, we find instances of

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making things bigger than they need to be. Or, indeed,

are.

And it’s a form of procrastination. We build it up, make it

huge, make the first small step a giant leap. And so we do

nothing. We’re rooted at inaction. But it doesn’t need to be

that way.

The Lesson: stop making everything so big!

Time to downsize

So a question for you: where are you making things

bigger than they are or need to be? Where is that

impeding your progress? And what can you do to

downsize, if only in your mind?

Dan Beverly is a leadership and performance coach helping high-calibre, high-

performing professional women embrace the pivotal career moments.

His mission is to inspire possibility in others: to help us excel in careers without

compromise; and to leave us feeling energised and uplifted by a new future.

Go online to book your complimentary “Session Zero” with Dan – and start

capitalising on your pivotal career moments today.

http://danbeverly.com/session-zero